


Trial By Fire

by superyuui



Series: TRC University AUs [3]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 11:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3849073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superyuui/pseuds/superyuui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>KuroFai prompt: AU where Kurogane brings Fai home to meet his parents. He’s nervous but trying not to let it show because he thinks Fai will also be nervous and he wants to be supportive.<br/>Description: Fai is shy and Kurogane's dad is really embarrassing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trial By Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PokeChan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeChan/gifts).



> Author's notes: I deviated a bit from Kurogane being outwardly nervous but that’s just how it happened; I blame him.  
> x-posted to tumblr and dreamwidth.

Getting Fai to willingly come meet Kurogane’s parents had been a challenge in and of itself. Fai wasn’t the most confident of people - sure, he could fake it, but it all eventually boiled down to the fact that he had been raised not by people but by books - and he could be a slippery bastard when he wanted to be.

Falling in love with Fai, in retrospect, was like being swept away by the force of a hurricane; there was no point in him even trying to resist.

Months had passed in their dozens since their first meeting, when Fai stood in the hallway of their student accommodation building, wringing his hands and making feeble jokes, precious and naturally attractive under greasy hair and unflattering fluorescent lights. Very quickly afterwards, he had wormed his way under Kurogane’s skin - in bad ways, and in good - and though Kurogane found his self-consciousness frustrating at the best of times, he had admired Fai’s bravery right from the start. The blonde intrigued him in ways that his flatmates and his coursemates hadn’t - in ways they _couldn’t_.

What happens _after_ the irresistible force meets the immovable object? What happens after Kurogane falls for a being of the stars, even if the realisation doesn’t come until weeks later, his fingertips ghosting through silken blonde hair and Fai’s snores puffing against his bare shoulder?

Whatever the answer, in Fai’s mind, it probably wasn’t “go and meet his parents”.

It had taken scheming, a lot of near-misses, and the involvement of his kid sister before Kurogane managed to finally persuade Fai to get it over with and come for a visit. Fai had argued at first, and dug deep grooves in the ground with his heels, before relenting with the assurance that “if it all goes wrong and they hate me, Kuro-stubborn, you can be the one to sort it out.”

A week later and Fai found himself stood on the doorstep of an embarrassingly posh-looking house, his cheeks having taken on a worrying shade of green. Kurogane rested his own clammy hand on the small of Fai’s back in an attempt to reassure him (and probably himself, too).

Kurogane’s dad answered the door (Kurogane felt Fai jump, and then an almost imperceptible twist as he looked incredulously between father and son) and ushered them inside, his loud, hearty voice an almost complete opposite to Kurogane’s grumbling. Kurogane’s dad sat them in the living room (“right this way, Monsieurs”), offered them ‘the menu’ and ’the wine list’, and the sad thing was that he probably thought he was being terribly witty. Fai probably would have cracked jokes too, had he not been sat as rigid as a statue beside Kurogane.

“Dad,” Kurogane started, cutting his father off before he fully committed to his overly-diligent waiter routine (a favourite), “this is my boyfriend, Fai.”

Fai flinched so suddenly beside him that, initially, Kurogane thought he had sneezed. Kurogane’s dad blinked, bemused.

“Damn it,” his father exclaimed, nearly causing poor Fai’s skin to jump off of his bones, before his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “do me a favour and don’t tell your mother? I don’t have any cash on me.”

“You bet on whether or not Fai was my boyfriend?” Kurogane hissed back.

“No, we bet on whether or not you’d _tell us_ that Fai was your boyfriend,”

“You didn’t even know that I-”

“Am into guys? Son, please,” his father said, voice raising back up to normal levels, and clapping a hand on his shoulder, “you aren’t the only one in this family that went to University.”

Kurogane covered his face with his hand, horrified, and Fai snorted.

“Fai, is it?” Kurogane’s father said cheerily, as if nothing was wrong, holding out his hand. Fai smiled tentatively and shook it.

“Yes, um,” Fai paused momentarily, “sorry, I don’t know what I should call you…”

“Call me ‘dad’,” Kurogane’s dad insisted, and Kurogane took that as his cue to leave before the ground could actually swallow him up. He might’ve felt guilty leaving Fai alone with his lunatic father, if he didn’t know full-well that he was going to get teased to death later by the both of them.

Their voices, Kurogane’s dad interrogating Fai about his degree and ambitions and Fai’s soft voice giving tentative answers, followed him out into the hallway and almost into the kitchen, where he found his little sister Tomoyo and his mother, preparing dinner and observing, respectively.

“I thought I heard you come in,” his mum said fondly, as he dropped a kiss onto her forehead. Her illness, while manageable, exhausted her easily. Kurogane hadn’t been surprised that she didn’t come to meet them at the door. “Where’s your friend?”

“Trial by fire,” Tomoyo supplied helpfully, “Dad’s doing a background check on him as we speak,”

“Dad owes you money, too,” Kurogane added, and his mother beamed.

“Tell mum how long you and Fai’ve been together, Kurogane!” Tomoyo said, and though her back was to him he could feel her mischievous grin.

“Brat,” he grumbled, having been thoroughly dropped in it, “Two years,”

His mother’s smile fell a little, brows pulling together. Her poker face was almost as good as Fai’s could be - indeed, before he had started spending time with the blonde, he hadn’t ever seen the cracks in it.

“I suppose… you had your reasons, didn’t you?”

Kurogane nodded. “Sorry, mum,” he mumbled, eyes averted. Her hand, tiny, pale, and chilly, came to rest atop his own on the breakfast table.

“Do you love him?” she asked, softly, and behind them, Tomoyo paused, knife hovering above the vegetables on the chopping board. Kurogane nodded, once.

“Yeah,”

His mother’s smile grew again. She gathered up her crutches and gestured for Kurogane to help her up, saying it was her turn to meet him now.

“Did you know Fai was a Postgrad?” Kurogane’s father blurted when they appeared in the doorway. Fai’s blue eyes searched out Kurogane’s - his pallor had at least gone from green to a hearty pink, though he still looked an awful lot like someone who had just been handed a newborn baby.

“Yes, dear,” his mother answered with a soft laugh.

Kurogane shared a smile with Fai, whom he loved, finally knowing that his family loved him too.


End file.
